Reinforced railroad-tie.



A. STARK.

REINFORCED RAILROAD TIE.

APPLICATION FILED MAYZII I914.

1,216,873.. Patented Feb. 20, 1917.

22: g 54 I: D I

y i xmm ANDREW STARK, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

- REINFORCED RAILROAD-TIE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb. 20, 1917.

Application filed May 21, 1914. Serial No. 839,924.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW STARK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Reinforced Railroad-Ties, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

This invention relates to improved means for reinforcing the rail 'seat portion of a railway tie, particularly in the case of'a wooden tie. It consists of the features and elements and their combinations shown and described as indicated by the claims.

In the drawings Figure l is atop plan view of a portion of a railway tie' fitted .with reinforcing means embodying this invention. 1

Fig. 2 is an elevation of a railway'tie re inforced in accordance with this invention, a portion of the rail being shown in section in its normal position.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section of a tie showing a special tie plate and rail fastening used in combination with the other features of the invention.

Fig. 4 is a detail plan view of the tie plate shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section showing another form of tie plate employed in combination with the reinforcing means. I

Fig. 6 is a vertical section illustrating another modified form of tie plate in position of use.

F ig. 7 is a vertical section illustrating a further modification with respect to the tie late. p Fig. 8 is a vertical section illustrating the modified form of a reinforcing element designed to replace the tie plate.

Fig. 9 is a detail section of a tie illustrat ing one of the reinforcing elements in position therein.

Fig. 10 is a detail perspective view of one of the reinforcing elements.

In my Patent, No. 1,097,564, datedMay 19th, 1914: I have shown and described a means of reinforcing the rail seats of rail wayties to prevent crushing and abrasions of the material, which involves setting in the material a multiplicity of upstanding metallic elements which may be simply round wire nails with their heads either 55 slightly above the surface of the tieor flush therewith in position to support the rail. The present invention is concerned with certain other forms of reinforcing elements which may be substituted for the round nails, and with additional functions which these reinforcing elements may be made to perform in certain combinations.

As is well understood the purpose of the tie plates commonly employed in combination with wooden ties is often more than merely to distribute the vertical load over 7 a larger area of the tie to avoid crushing; frequently these tie plates are made with a flange or abutment formed to engage the outer edge of the rail flange, and since the rail-securing spikes are driven through apertures in the tie plate the spikes-at the inner edge of the rail are thus harnessed with those at the outer edge to resist lateral strains outward. Obviously the use of reinforcing nails in rail seat of the wooden tie as a substitute for the tie plate as shown in Fig. 2, involves a sacrifice of this harnessing function of the tie plate, but when the key spike, shown in said figure, is employed instead of the ordinary spikes, the additional breadth of the wedge key, as compared with the breadth of the back of an ordinary spike, is sufficient to so increase the resistance of the outside spikes to lateral strains as to make the cooperation of the inside spikes unnecessary. In 2, the rail, 2, is lodged upon the vertically driven reinforcing elements, 8, in the tie, 4, and is held in place by the spikes, 5, whose keys, 1, are above referred to.- However, if it is desired to employ stand ard spikes and still to secure the advantage of the'reinforcement for the wooden tie, a comparatively thin tie plate, 6, may be inserted between the heads'or 'upper'ends of the reinforcing elements, 3, and theflange, 2 of the rail, 2. This plate'need not be as heavy as it would be made if-lodged directly on the wood without reinforcement, since the resistance to crushingof the-woodis so increased by the presence of the reinforcing elements, 3, as to greatly lessen the liability of bending of the tie plate under heavy load. The tie plate in this use is to be considered principally as a harness between the railsecuring spikes, 7 7 and will therefore be apertured to admit the spikes and to engage them. If desired, it may be provided with a flange or abutment, 6 positioned to engage the outer edge of the rail flange, 2 See Fig. 5.

On the other hand, a tie plate may be employed principally for the purpose of distributing the bearing of the rail over a larger area of the tie, the total area of the tie thus brought into play being reinforced by the elements, 3. If in such use my key spike above mentioned is employed the tie plate, 8, will not necessarily be apertured to admit the spike but may have merely a notch, 8, cut in its edge toreceive the spike, since as above mentioned the spikes them selves are capable of resisting much larger lateral strains than standard railway spikes. This combination is illustrated in Fig. 3. It will be seen that the notches in such a tie plate may be so spaced as to permit the use of several different sizes of rails on the same plates if the distance between the notches in the opposite edges, respectively, is made substantially equal to the minimum width of the rail flange expected. Wider rail flanges will thus slightly overlap the notches, but the securing spikes may be set farther apart to admit such wider flanges.

If desired, the reinforcing elements may be left projecting slightly above the surface of the tie and this fact may be taken advantage of as shown in Fig. 6 by using a tie plate, 9, having abutments which may be simply the walls of grooves, 9 formed in its underside, these grooves being positioned to fit over the rows of upstanding elements, 3, and thusto engage them. Then if the upper side of the tie plate, 9, is provided with an abutment or flange, 9 engaging the outer edge of the rail flange, the lateral strains on the rail will be transmitted through the tie plate to the reinforcing elements, 3, and by them resisted. This will not interfere with the resisting action of the rail-securing spikes but will supplement such action making a still safer construction than has yet been devised. As shown in the drawing some of the rows of the elements, 3, may be driven flush with the surface of the tie and the tie plate may be lodged upon them, while only the remainder of the rows are left upstanding to engage the grooves, 9. Preferably, of course the upstanding ones should extend to the bottom of the grooves, 9 so as to bear their share of the downward load. Fig. 7 shows a tie plate having apertures, 9, instead of the grooves, 9 with the elements, 3, projecting up through such apertures in contact with the rail flange, 2.

A preferred form of reinforcing element, 3, for use in the above described combinations is illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10, and is designed to be made from sheet metal of uniform cross section. The outline of the member when out out of the sheet metal is that of a wedge tapering uniformly from the head end, 3 to the point, 3"; thus its two opposite sides, 3, 3, are in parallel planes, while the other two faces converge downwardly. This element should be set into the wood of the tie with the parallel faces, 3, extending in the direction of the grain of the wood which is longitudinal of the tie. In this way the point, 3 which is really a cutting edge will sever the fibers of the wood as it is driven down, while the tapering faces, 3 will force the severed ends of the fibers apart, tending also to bend them downward toward the direction of driving. The wood thus distorted and compressed will offer a resistance to the downward movement of the elements, 3, said resistance increasing by reason of the increased compression of the wood as the element is driven deeper and thus rendering the wedge-like reinforcement, 3, capable of sustaining a considerable downward load; when a multiplicity ofsuch elements have been inserted in the tie in some such arrangement as that indicated by the plan View of Fig. l, the bearing strength of the tie will be found to be greatly increased and there will be no danger of crushing of the wood at the surface under any load which is to be expected on the track. It should be noted that since the ta erin faces 3 of the member, 3 eX- tend substantially perpendicular to the direction of the grain the lateral strains transmitted through the groove tie plate, 9, will be resisted directly by the cut ends of the wood fibers acting against these flat surfaces, 3 and such strains will have little or no tendency to force the elements, 3, between the fibers tending to split the wood of the tie.

In Fig. 8 there is shown a form of reinforcing element indicated at 10, which will serve as a substitute for the tie plate. It is made of the same stock as the regular reinforcing elements, 3, but is preferably somewhat broader at the upper end, and this upper end is notched at 10 to engage the outer edge of the rail flange. As shown, the element, 10, is driven with one of its tapering edges, 10", substantially perpendicular in the material of the tie, while the opposite edge, 10, slants upwardly from the point, 10. Since the outward thrust on the rail is the resultant of a lateral centrifugal force and a downward gravitational force, this resultant isdirected obliquely downward, and will be more directly resisted by the ele- 'ments, 10, if their outer edges, 10, are disposed quite obliquely to the perpendicular.

To render these elements weather-proof, it is desirable that they be coated with a preparation of resin and linseed oil, which will be baked on after the manner of a japan finish. Such a surfacing not only prevents rusting of the elements but materially increases their frictional grip on the wood; becoming heated in the driving of the elements, it hardens and sets into the very fiber of the wood, and thus tends to hold the elements more firmly therein. As a substitute for such a finish, the nails may be galvanized in a well. known manner.

I claim l. A reinforcing element for a railway tie, adapted to be inserted in the tie in position to support the rail, and consisting of a wedge-shaped nail tapered throughoutthe extent of its insertion in the tie.

2. A reinforcing element for a railway tie, adapted to be inserted in the tie in position to support the rail, and consisting of a wedge-shaped nail of quadrangular crosssection having two opposing sides which converge throughout the extent of their insertion in the tie.

3. The combination of a railway tie, a tie plate lodged thereon having at its upper side an abutment adapted to engage the edge of the rail flange and having recesses extending upwardly from its lower surface, and a multiplicity of reinforcing nails inserted upstanding in the tie at the rail seat and adapted to sustain endwise the rail load, the upper ends of such nails extending into the respective recesses of the tie plate throughout the extent of such recesses, whereby the nails serve both to receive the rail load and to restrain the tie plate against lateral shifting.

4. The combination of a railway tie, a multiplicity of reinforcing elements embedded upstanding in the material of the tie within the area to be covered by the rail, and a tie-plate having apertures to register with said reinforcing elements respectively, said elements extending through the apertures of the tie-plate to the top plane thereof for contact with the rail flange, and the upper side of the tie-plate having an abutment adapted to engage the edge of such rail flange.

5. The combination of a railway tie, a multiplicity of reinforcing elements embedded upstanding in the material at the rail seat of the tie, a plurality of said elements having their upper ends substantially flush with the tie surface, and the remainder of said elements projecting slightly above said surface, and a tie plate lodged on the tie over said reinforcing elements, said tie plate having grooves extending transversely of the tie and positioned to engage the said projecting elements and having an abutment on its upper side positioned to engage the edge of the rail flange.

6. In a wooden railway tie, a multiplicity of reinforcing elements of quadrangular cross section driven into the tie at the rail seat, said elements having two substantially parallel sides extending approximately in the direction of the grain, the other two sides extending approximately perpendicu- 8. The combination of a railway tie, a

multiplicity of reinforcing elements embedded upstanding in the material at the rail seat of the tie, including a row of elements positioned under the outer edge of the rail flange, each element of said row being a wedge of substantially rectangular cross section with two parallel sides and with its upper and wider end notched for lodgment of the rail flange and forming an abutment engaging the edge of such flange, said wedge being driven with its parallel sides extending substantially with the grain of the wood.

9. The combination of a railway tie, a multiplicity of reinforcing elements embedded upstanding in the material at the rail seat of the tie, including a row of elements positioned under the outer edge of the rail flange, each element of said row being a wedge of substantially rectangular cross section with two parallel sides and with its upper and wider end notched for lodgment of the rail flange and forming an abutment engaging the edge of such flange, said wedge being driven with its tapering sides transverse to the direction of the grain, the inner one of said sides standing approximately vertical in the tie and the opposite side sloping upwardly and outwardly therefrom.

10. The combination of a railway tie, a multiplicity of reinforcing elements embedded upstanding in the material at the rail seat of the tie; a plurality of said ele-. ments having their upper ends substantially flush with the tie surface; a tie plate lodged upon saidv reinforcing elements, said tie plate having a series of apertures and the remainder of the reinforcing elements beingpositioned in the tie to register respectively with said apertures and with their upper ends projecting fromthe surface of the tie to engage the apertures, the tie plate having an abutment on its upper side positioned to engage the edge of therail flange.

11. The combination of a railway tie, a multiplicity of reinforcing elements embedded upstanding in the material at the rail seat of the tie; a tie plate lodged upon a plurality of said elements and having a series of apertures through which the remainder of said elements are positioned to project, vsaid remaining elements extending set my hand at "Chicago, Illinois, this 16th flush with .the Lipper surlfafice of the tie plate day of May, 1914. for Contact Wit1 the mi ange, and the tie 7 plate having an abutment on its upper side ANDREW STARK '5 :positionedte engage the edge of the rail Witnesses:

flange. R0131. N. BURTON, In testimony whereof, I have hereunto LUCY I. STONE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C. 

